LED Spotlight: Economics Department Celebrates Undergraduate Research Award Recipients

The Department of Economics in the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University is pleased to recognize Eeshah Rafiq, Mai Tran, and Ethan Young for their undergraduate research.

Their reflections highlight the opportunity to connect classroom learning with real-world questions, develop independent research skills and explore unexpected findings through empirical analysis.

Eeshah Rafiq — Peter Sinclair Best Paper Award

Paper title: Credential Expansion and the Bachelor’s Employment-Income Premium Among Young Canadians, 2001–2021

Rafiq investigates whether the employment-income advantage associated with a bachelor’s degree has declined as more young Canadians earn university credentials.

For Eeshah Rafiq, the research process offered the freedom to pursue a question independently while building confidence in empirical analysis. “This paper was one of my favourite parts of my economics degree because it gave me the opportunity to independently explore a question I was curious about,” said Rafiq. “Some of the most rewarding parts of the research were also the most challenging, as there was a lot of trial and error involved in developing the paper and working through the empirical analysis.”

Rafiq also valued the way the findings reshaped her understanding of the question. “I especially enjoyed seeing the research evolve and having the results ultimately challenge my initial expectations. This experience strengthened both my research skills and my interest in data-driven research, which I hope to continue pursuing after graduation!”

Mai Tran — Peter Sinclair Paper Award Runner-Up

Paper title: Monetary Tightening and the Affordability Gap Across Canadian Housing Markets

Tran examines whether rising mortgage qualifying rates widened the gap between home prices and mortgage-qualified purchasing capacity more in markets that were already expensive relative to local incomes. Mai Tran found the experience particularly rewarding because it brought together learning from across her degree.

“What I enjoyed most about this research was seeing my degree come together and how it connected to a real issue facing Canadians. Being able to combine ideas from separate courses, from microeconomic theory to macroeconomic policy to econometrics, and turn them into one complete paper was incredibly rewarding to me as an Economics student,” said Tran.

Ethan Young — Best Short Paper Award

Paper title: Alcohol Use Disorder and Mental Health Outcomes in Canada

Young examines the relationship between frequent binge drinking and depression using the 2019–2020 Canadian Community Health Survey. For Ethan Young, receiving the Best Short Paper Award marked an opportunity to reflect on the practical relevance of his economics education. “What I enjoyed most about conducting this research was the opportunity to take the economic theories and tools we learn in the classroom and apply them to an issue that is all too real for many Canadians,” said Young.

“On behalf of the Economics Department, we would like to congratulate Eeshah, Mai and Ethan on their excellent research papers, and we wish them every success in their careers,” said Wendy Wu, associate chair of the Department of Economics. “As in previous years, we received many high-quality submissions. The Economics Department congratulates all students who submitted papers on their excellent research,” said Wu.

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